Zone Activity & Knocking Doors:  7/18/2016

Hey everyone:) Hope ya'll have had a great week! Hope you enjoyed that "Patriotic" video I sent out haha:) As you can see, I'm having a blast out here on my mission!

Well I have been hearing a lot about missionaries from my ward returning home as well as those I went to school with. Crazy to think that it's already been 2 years for them. Cool story with one of them. Trevor Williams, a great childhood buddy as well as member from my home ward, just got back a week ago. We had a returned sister missionary in Roskilde ward speak yesterday in sacrament meeting. Well come to find out she had been in the same mission as him and after sacrament meeting she came up and showed me all these pictures and how they were at the airport traveling home together! That blew my mind!! I had no clue it had already been two years for Trevor. So she took a pic of me and her and sent it his way, haha Mormon world sure is small haha!

This past week was a lot of fun. We were on splits with the Zone leaders, had district activity (Our district is so big now) and then splits with our District Leader and his companion. For district activity we all went to the Roskilde Domkirke again. That place is so sweet! If any of ya'll visit Danmark, you HAVE to go there!

Me and Æ. Smith have been working hard. Tried knocking in a new city that I had never been to before. We taught a lot of lessons and got some good potentials so we will definitely be going down there more often! Æ. Smith has been a killer comp. We have been having some great times together and have been doing some great work! I am loving Denmark. I'm not perfect nor fluent at the language, but I definitely can talk to people and understand them. Training has given me a bigger drive when it comes to learning the language more. I KNOW the gift of tongues is real. I see the difference in my speech when I pray for the gift of tongues. It's such an amazing thing. Æ. Smith and I have been getting a long great!! So crazy to think I will be hitting my year mark while being his companion.  

I'm saddened to read about what is going on with the Riots back in the states, as well as the recent attack in Nice, France. The world just keeps getting worse and worse. "More signs of the times" What a blessing it is to have the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives. Having Christ as our "Grundvold" (foundation) that we can hold on to while the world around us continues to fall apart. My thoughts and prayers are directed towards those involved in the recent tragedies. May God comfort and bless them and well as you. I love you all, have a wonderful week!

MKH

Æ. Weese

This is what Parker's comp, Elder Smith, wrote home about him:

"So I've had a way great second week with lots of good experiences. We've been able to teach quite a few lessons but mostly just doorstep lessons. I'm learning so much from Elder Weese. He is an amazing teacher and way good at talking to people. He always looks above himself and I'm really glad that a lot of my missionary characteristics will come from what he teaches me."

He also shared a story that happened to them the past week that Parker didn't share with us, I thought it was fun to hear about their experiences from Elder Smith's point of view:

"The other day Elder Weese and I were walking down the street in Holbæk when this guy looks over to us while we were waiting at a crosswalk. He asks, "Are you Mormons?" We happily answered Yes! He then asks us "do you know who Jesus was?" we begin to share something awesome and spiritual with him but he cuts us off before we could say anything and says "Jesus was a Jew, the chosen ones, I am Christian, I am a Jew. You will never be a part of the chosen ones, you will die trying. You disgusting devils." He then spits at our feet. That was a pretty eye opening experience for me. It's not common for people to be that harsh with us or anyone, but it really made me think of what I would like to tell him."

Knocking & Biking: 7/11/2016

Hey everybody! Hope you all had a killer 4th of July! Thanks to an awesome member family, our 4th of July was pretty great:) Hope this finds you all well and happy.

Well, Æ. Smith and I have been out kicking butt! We have been doing pretty well as a companionship. Æ. Smith is a great missionary, always positive and funny, and with great motivation to do the work. I have already seen such HUGE improvement in his Danish and talking to people so way to go Æ. Smith!!

3 Days in a row, Æ. Smith and I stopped by this pizza place and got this huge pizza to eat at the end of the day haha. We have had to stop that tradition because if we kept it up, we would be out of money before either of us realized it! That pizza though was soooooo good. Great for Hygge! Good thing we have been biking everyday!

We had zone training this last Wednesday. It was great. I always walk away from those training having learned so much! Always with new ideas on how I can better the area I am serving in. A great thing about Den Danske Mission is that we are overall quite an obedient mission, which is huge! Obedience is what brings forth the miracles in a mission and we definitely count on those miracles.

We have been doing a lot of knocking lately. We have had a big focus on teaching as soon as someone opens their door. Rather than ask them if they would be interested in hearing our message, we just start sharing our message! I think that really helps us get past some of the "cultural no's" and it allows us to invite the Spirit into our conversation immediately. I really have enjoyed knocking! Every contact is different with their own opinions, questions, and needs. That's where the Spirit really kicks in and helps us discern what part of the Gospel can really get their attention. No matter who the person is or what they are going through, there is something from the Gospel that they can really relate to or understand. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone on this planet! God doesn't limit his knowledge or blessings or guidance to just any one group of people. He loves us all individually and if we just turn our hearts to Him, He will pour out more blessings than we can receive. I have seen that numerous times on my mission.

Time is flying by WAY too fast. I have already been gone for more than 10 months and I still feel new in some ways. I love being a missionary here in Denmark and I wouldn't trade it for anything!! I love you all and wish you all a fantastic week:) 

MKH

Ældste Weese

P.S. Favorite Danish phrase of the week "Vent til du har skæg på din hagen, min dreng" (wait until you have a beard on your chin my boy, wait until you are grown up haha)

 

Trainee and the 4th of July:  7/4/2016

Hey Ya'll!!  Happy 4th of July! Wishing I was shooting off fireworks and having a BBQ in the grand ol' USA right now! Denmark is such a sweet place, but I sure am one proud American;)

Well I've been with my trainee, Æ, Smith, for 4 days and I can already tell these next couple of transfers are going to be pretty great:) Æ. Smith is a champ! Fresh out of Vernal, Utah ready to hit the streets preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We have already had some great teaching experiences together! He has a great attitude and is ready to work and study hard. We get along way good! Holbæk, Denmark isn't going to know what hit 'em!

So I was out of my area until Wednesday. I stayed in Rødovre and then was in København (Copenhagen) to pick up Æ. Smith. So this past week was a little different. I feel like time is going by faster than it has at any other point of my mission! We got Æ. Smith all settled in, did a lot of training, fixed our bathroom sink (I have been cutting my own hair so it was probably my fault that the sink wasn't working haha) Played football Saturday in the POURING rain! Holy cow I was soaked, but it was so much fun! Never thought soccer would become one of my favorite sports, guess that's what a mission in Europe does to ya.

We have Zone training this week which I am looking forward to! I always enjoy being around President and all the other missionaries in the zone. 

I want you all to know that I have a firm testimony of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints being God's true church on the earth today. Joseph Smith saw God the Father and His son, Jesus Christ. Through Joseph, the fullness of the Gospel was restored and I feel so blessed to live in this last dispensation. Thomas S. Monson is God's prophet on the earth today. Through him we can receive guidance and inspiration that will bring us so much happiness. The Book of Mormon is true! It is SO TRUE!! No other book can bring one closer to God and to their Savior Jesus Christ. I challenge all to read it and to ask God, with oprigtigt hensigt (real intent) if it is true. You will receive an answer. I share my witness with you in his holy name, Jesus Christ, Amen. 

I wish you all a happy and fantastic week!! Vi ses:)

MKH

Æ. Weese

Elder Weese loves packages from home!! 

4th of July Celebrations at a member's home. 

Transfers and Training a new Comp:  6/27/2016

Well, I am super rushed today, forgot my journal, and don't have my camera cord to upload pics...

I hope everyone is doing well though!! This past week has been quite exciting. Æ. McBride and I received transfer calls early because we got a big change ahead of us. He is going to Iceland and I am training the only Elder coming to Denmark this transfer! On top of all that, a neighboring area is closing (due to not enough Elders) and is falling into my area. So my area doubled in size! My area is twice the size of Rhode Island (probably like 1100 square miles) That's a super rough estimate but it is like half the size of Sjælland. It's huge! haha plus all the members are scattered out in it. So it's going to be way fun tackling that while training:)

Students have graduated from Gynamsium (somewhat like highschool) and so the party busses are out. All the graduates get in these busses with there classmates and just drink and party while driving around the city. Æ. McBride and I got caught behind one and we had booze poured all over our car, got mooned, flashed, yeah it was crazy! Still been playing Football every Saturday. I think I am starting to get quite decent at it:) For an American that is!

Next weeks email will be a lot better, but all in all, I'm doing great:) Healthy and Happy and loving my time here in Denmark! Hope you all are doing well. Have a wonderful week!

MVH

Æ. Weese

Elder Weese meeting his new companion, Elder Smith fresh out of the MTC!!

Elder Weese with new companion Elder Smith and President and Sister O'Bryant

Look at all those new sister missionary sent to Denmark.  Elder Weese gets to train the only new elder sent to Denmark, Elder Smith from Vernal, Utah.  Crazy story Jon and Elder Smith's dad worked together many years ago!!